Celtics

THE NBA

October 7, 1999

A NEGLIGENCE lawsuit against Boston Celtics forward Antoine Walker was reinstated by a federal appeals court that said he might be liable for an alleged rape at his home if he could have stopped it without danger to himself.

Monday's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston said state law isn't clear about a host's legal duty to protect guests in his home.

HAWKS

ISAIAH RIDER joined his teammates after missing the first day of training camp in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Rider blamed his absence on the plane he was to fly in from his home in Oakland, Calif., to the Hawks' camp.

He said he went to the gate after a short layover and saw a jet he called a ``crop-duster plane'' and refused to get on.

PACERS

DALE DAVIS reported to Indiana's training camp, a day late and soon to be more than a few dollars short.

The $5 million forward was fined an undisclosed amount after he failed to show up for the team's first two practices at the Disney Institute in Lake Buena Vista. Davis said he did not report on time only because he had to take care of personal matters.

KNICKS

WITHOUT EVEN the courtesy of a phone call to the coach or general manager, Latrell Sprewell remained absent from New York's training camp in Charleston, S.C.

Sprewell's agent told General Manager Scott Layden that the player was in Milwaukee and would join the team Wednesday night or this morning.

But there was still no communication from Sprewell himself, a silence that was bothering Layden and Coach Jeff Van Gundy.

LAKERS

PHIL JACKSON wanted Los Angeles to acquire Scottie Pippen, but owner Jerry Buss said Pippen's $67 million contract would have hamstrung the team for too many years.

Pippen was traded by the Houston Rockets to the Portland Trail Blazers last week for six reserves. He has four years remaining on a five-year deal he signed with the Chicago Bulls before he was traded to the Rockets last season.

``Phil definitely felt that Scottie would be a big improvement for us in the next year or two,'' Buss told a gathering of reporters at training camp in Santa Barbara, Calif.

``But he is aware that if you take somebody like Scottie with a long-term contract under the current rules, it would have been impossible to ever improve this team.''